Twelve residents and 13 other people with ties to Greenwich died in the attacks. Most worked at the World Trade Center. Two were killed on the hijacked planes.

Organizers of a nonprofit fundraising effort called Return the Light that helped pay for $305,000 of the $1.3 million lighthouse renovation said they have the list but are waiting for a symbolic milestone.

Built in 1868, the lighthouse has been dark since 1970, when the U.S. Coast Guard moved its beacon to a freestanding 30-foot structure on town-owned island. As soon as the Coast Guard returns the beacon to the lighthouse, Morrison said the memorial can be completed.

A message seeking comment from the Coast Guard was left Monday for a public affairs officer at its New Haven station.

Moving the beacon back into the lighthouse requires nautical charts to be updated, as well as new electrical wiring on the island itself, according to those familiar with the process. The existing beacon is powered by a solar array.

Ed Bragg, chairman of Return the Light, said the status of the memorial hasn't changed much from last September.

"I do think there was some hope or idea of getting geared for this Sept. 11," Bragg said.

A message seeking comment from First Selectman Peter Tesei, the town's chief elected official, was left Monday on his cell phone.

Selectman Drew Marzullo, who was elected last November, said those families disillusioned with the pace of the project have every right to feel the way they do.

"I want to see us put a move on this as long as it's done in a very thoughtful and sensitive way," Marzullo said. "In the end, we want the best possible memorial to honor these heroes."

At the time of his death, Gregory Wachtler was living and working in Manhattan as a research analyst for Fred Alger Management Co. in the World Trade Center. He was 25. Wachtler's sole connection to Greenwich is that he is buried in town next to his paternal grandparents, who were married here.

Some organizers of the fundraising appeal for the lighthouse project said only those victims who were residents at the time of the attacks should be listed on the memorial, sparking a firestorm among family members of other victims with local ties and politicians who argued that the town should have ultimate say since it paid for most of the renovation.

"You should make a big stink about whether Gregory is (on) there," said Nassima Wachtler, who travels twice a week to town to visit her son's grave.

If residency were a prerequisite, the names of only 12 of the 25 victims with ties to Greenwich would be listed on the memorial, according to obituaries and articles published in the newspaper at the time.

The memorial's planners ultimately bowed to the pressure last September, saying that they would open it up to former residents and other victims with ties to Greenwich.

The memorial will consist of two plaques on a granite slab behind the lighthouse, which has a view of the Manhattan skyline. One will have the victims' names. The other will list those of major donors to the renovation.

The Wachtlers said they wish the town would have considered another location for the memorial that is easier to get to than the island, which is two miles off the coast of Greenwich in Long Island Sound.

A number of the donations to the Return the Light fundraising appeal were made in the name Ben Fisher, a senior vice president of Fiduciary Trust Co. International, an asset management firm that had offices on the 97th floor of the World Trade Center.

An experienced sailor who was raised in Greenwich and lived in Stamford, the 58-year-old had an interest in the lighthouse restoration before his death on Sept. 11.

Fisher's widow, Susan, said that the Wachtlers had a point about the memorial's remote location.

At the same time, Fisher pointed out that there is a Connecticut 9/11 memorial at Sherwood Island State Park in Westport where she said the Wachtlers can try to get their son remembered as well.

"So it's not like this is the only place in Connecticut that you can pay respects," Fisher said.

Ferry service to Great Captains Island runs from about the second week of June to the second week of September.

"It's a summer kind of thing," Bragg said.

Marzullo said the Wachtlers have a legitimate concern about access to the memorial, however.

"If the discussion still needs to take place where the best place is, then that's worth looking into, too," Marzullo said.

Fisher did share some of the concerns about the drawn-out process of finishing the memorial.

"We've got to do something by the 10th anniversary," Fisher said.

Staff writer Neil Vigdor can be reached at neil.vigdor@scni.com or 203-625-4436.